Federal Election Campaign Act

The Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971 (FECA, Pub.L. 92–225, 86 Stat. 3, enacted February 7, 1972, 52 U.S.C. § 30101 et seq.) is the primary United States federal law regulating political campaign fundraising and spending. The law originally focused on increased disclosure of contributions for federal political campaigns. The Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon on February 7, 1972.[1]

Federal Election Campaign Act
Other short titlesCampaign Finance Act
Long titleAn Act to promote fair practices in the conduct of election campaigns for Federal political offices, and for other purposes.
Acronyms (colloquial)FECA
NicknamesFederal Election Campaign Act of 1971
Enacted bythe 92nd United States Congress
EffectiveApril 7, 1972
Citations
Public law92-225
Statutes at Large86 Stat. 3
Codification
Titles amended2 U.S.C.: Congress
U.S.C. sections created2 U.S.C. ch. 14 § 431 et seq.
Legislative history
  • Introduced in the Senate as S. 382 by John O. Pastore (D-RI) on May 6, 1971
  • Committee consideration by Senate Finance
  • Passed the Senate on August 5, 1971 (88-2)
  • Passed the House on November 30, 1971 (372-23, in lieu of H.R. 11060)
  • Reported by the joint conference committee on December 1, 1971; agreed to by the Senate on December 14, 1971 (Agreed, in lieu of S.Rept. 92–580) and by the House on January 19, 1972 (334-20, in lieu of H.Rept. 92–752)
  • Signed into law by President Richard M. Nixon on February 7, 1972
Major amendments

In 1974, the act was amended to create the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and to place legal limits on campaign contributions and expenditures.

The act was amended again in 1976, in response to the provisions ruled unconstitutional by Buckley v. Valeo, including the structure of the FEC and the limits on campaign expenditures, and again in 1979 to allow parties to spend unlimited amounts of hard money on activities like increasing voter turnout and registration. In 1979, the FEC ruled that political parties could spend unregulated or "soft" money for non-federal administrative and party building activities. Later, this money was used for candidate-related issue ads, which led to a substantial increase in soft money contributions and expenditures in elections. This in turn led to passage of the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002 ("BCRA"), effective on January 1, 2003, which banned soft money expenditure by parties. Some of the legal limits on giving of "hard money" were also changed by BCRA.

In addition to limiting the size of contributions to candidates and political parties, FECA also requires campaigns and political committees to report the names, addresses, and occupations of donors of more than $200.

The FECA contains an express preemption clause, which expressly preempts state and federal law with respect to federal elections.

Background

As early as 1905, Theodore Roosevelt argued in favor of campaign finance reform and called for a ban of corporate contributions for political purposes. In response, the United States Congress passed the Tillman Act of 1907, which banned the corporate contributions. Further regulation followed in the Federal Corrupt Practices Act enacted in 1910, and subsequent amendments in 1910 and 1925, the Hatch Act, the Smith-Connally Act of 1943, and the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947. These acts sought to regulate corporate and union spending in campaigns for federal office, and mandated public disclosure of campaign donors.

Original provisions

In 1971, Congress consolidated the earlier campaign finance laws as the Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA), and instituting more stringent disclosure requirements for federal candidates, political parties and political action committees (PACs). However, the law still lacked a central administrative authority, making enforcement of the law difficult.

Government subsidies for federal elections, originally proposed by President Roosevelt in 1907, was part of the 1971 Act, with Congress establishing the income tax checkoff to provide for the financing of Presidential general election campaigns and national party conventions. Amendments to the Internal Revenue Code in 1974 established the matching fund program for presidential primary campaigns.

1974 Amendments

Following reports of serious financial abuses in the 1972 presidential campaign, Congress amended the FECA in 1974 to set limits on contributions by individuals, political parties and PACs. The 1974 amendments also established an independent agency, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to enforce the law, facilitate disclosure and administer the public funding program. The FEC commenced to function in 1975 and administered the first publicly funded presidential election in 1976.

In 1976, the Supreme Court in Buckley v. Valeo struck down several key provisions of the 1974 amendments, including limits on spending by candidate campaigns, limits on the ability of citizens to spend money independently of a campaign, and limits on the amount of money a candidate could donate to his or her own campaign. The case also substantially narrowed the category of independent political expenditures subject to mandatory donor disclosure.

1976 and 1979 Amendments

Further amendments to the FECA were made in 1976 to conform the law with the ruling in Buckley v. Valeo. Major amendments were also made in 1979 to streamline the disclosure process and expand the role of political parties.

2002 Amendments

In 2002, major revisions to the FECA were made by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act, more commonly referred to as "McCain-Feingold." However, major portions of McCain-Feingold were struck down by the Supreme Court on constitutional grounds in Federal Election Commission v. Wisconsin Right to Life, Inc. (2007), Davis v. Federal Election Commission (2008) and Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission (2010). The Citizens United ruling also struck down FECA's complete ban on corporate and union independent spending, originally passed as part of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947.[2]

See also

References
  1. Peters, Gerhard; Woolley, John T. "Richard Nixon: "Statement on Signing the Federal Election Campaign Act of 1971.," February 7, 1972". The American Presidency Project. University of California - Santa Barbara.
  2. The FEC and the Federal Campaign Finance Law
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.